PARADOX FILES, Vol. 10 - Chris DeVidal

Editor's Note: this a partial reprint of an excellent article by Chris DeVidal, the entirety of which can be found here. I'm reprinting it because this article perfectly exemplifies the type of thinking that underlies this blog. Chris presents the balance of command and promise from God's Word, as filtered through the lens of historic Calvinism. No t-shirts were in stock, so this time I'm awarding an official THEOparadox necktie and a nifty wall graphic. Some folks who have previously received the t-shirts will be jealous of the arms, but the arms don't count because they're not his.


Behold the beautiful balance of doctrine that John Calvin handed down to us!

You must persevere in faith until the end to be saved.
You will persevere in faith until the end and thus be saved.

You must choose Christ of your own free will.
You will choose Christ because your will has been freed.

You must bear fruit when converted.
You will bear fruit when converted.

Christ died to make forgiveness possible for anyone who would believe. His blood is sufficient for all.
Christ died to forgive those who would believe. His blood, sufficient for all, was applied directly to us.

God loves everybody!
God loves everybody but also, in ways unfathomable to us, hates the sinner in addition to loving him.

God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked!
God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked and yet, in ways unfathomable to us, takes pleasure in all that He does!

God wants no one to perish!
God wants no one to perish, and yet people perish. He must have a higher desire than His desire that no one perish.

Mankind is fully responsible!
God is fully sovereign!

I think that classic Calvinistic doctrines are the most wholly Biblical. Hyper-calvinistic doctrines slant too far in one direction and Arminian doctrines too far in the other. Classic Calvinistic doctrines that Calvin and Spurgeon and St. Augustine and Edwards and Piper and MacArthur and Sproul and Mohler and Dever and Mahaney et. al. teach are based on the entire Bible, not just selected proof texts. I love what Calvin found!!